Says security in danger of being left behind in technology acceleration
At the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, network signalling security experts Evolved Intelligence warned that operators racing to deploy 5G services in time for the Winter Olympic games in 2018 were in danger of forgetting the security lessons of the past.
Co-Founder and Commercial Director Peter Blackie said that not enough progress had yet been made on securing 5G network signalling. “It is only in the last couple of years,” he said, “that we have begun to protect the open door in the SS7 signalling protocol used in second and third generation networks. Hackers and fraudsters have found that door and have now begun exploiting the weakness.
“It is therefore vital,” he added, “that as well as continuing to close that door, we also ensure that signalling security in 4G and 5G networks gets the attention it requires now and that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.”
“It’s also worth recognising,” said Blackie, “that investment now in current networks, including 4G, would pay long-term dividends. The defence systems will evolve with the new technology and provide the best protection against future attacks which will be aimed across all protocols.”
Referring to the race to launch in time for the Winter Olympics, Blackie warned: “I understand the commercial targeting of big events for new technology, but it will put the operators in a vulnerable position if they launch 5G networks without the right level of security.”
Earlier this year, hackers exploited the weakness in SS7 signalling to defraud banking customers in Germany, diverting text messages that had been sent to authorise consumer transactions to their own mobiles rather than to the registered user. Evolved Intelligence is supplying a Signalling Firewall solution to operators that would have detected and blocked the fraudulent divert.
Although SS7 signalling, typically used to communicate between networks, is not used in 4G and 5G systems, the replacement Diameter signalling has some of the same inter-network security issues.
“The security issues will not fade away with the closure of the legacy networks,” said Blackie. “The Diameter signalling used in 4G and 5G networks will need improved security to keep the fraudsters at bay – especially as the technology underpinning Diameter will be more familiar to IT and computer hackers than the telecoms technology used in SS7 signalling.”
Speaking during one of the conference panels on Network Evolution, Blackie said that the current network planning phase, was the perfect time to build signalling firewalls and safety into 5G network roll-outs and to learn the lessons of the past.
About evolved-intelligence:
Evolved Intelligence provides roaming, fraud and security solutions to mobile phone operators, signalling providers and financial institutions world-wide. Their market leading Signalling Firewall solution is live in a number of tier 1 operator groups. Evolved Intelligence has over 60 service implementations in more than 40 operators. The company’s solutions are also available from several leading signalling providers. Evolved Intelligence is based in Bristol, UK and was formed in 2007. www.evolved-intelligence.com
